Saturday, February 28, 2009

On my way back to Manila, my mom helped me pack my things and she accidentally came across my supply of condoms. While it didn't surprise her why I had them she thought that I should keep them in one pocket of my bag.

"Chad, why not use this pocket? There's still plenty of room here" she suggested.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

I've noticed a lot of people whine about hassles and requirements of certain products that don't make sense to them. Take for example the iPod's requirement that iTunes be used to save/upload music to the device. People bitch about why use the damn software for it. For Apple, it makes legal sense to make sure that whatever music is in your iPod your PC must have a copy as well. Technically, they made sure that you OWN the music on one computer. Of course, with piracy as a potential issue to bring up here their interface or whatever they call makes sure that your source is only in one place and one place only - your PC. But who takes that shit seriously these days, eh?

Most people are consumers and not businessmen. These people don't understand that while you whine about wanting features "you only get what you pay for". That's like expecting to have a Ferrari engine in your pathetic Vios and expecting to pay for only the price of the latter.

I ran across a certain a DSLR review site while trying to explore a good camera to start a new hobby in photography. (I had experience in 35mm SLRs when I was a kid. I just thought it's worth revisiting) It turned out this site had a reputation for being subjective in its review. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that even with the amount of effort put into reviewing a Nikon D40, D60 or D80 it all boils down to choosing the D40 no matter what. No, I will not give out the link so as to save the ignorant. ;)

One thing that caught my eye though was the article about the insignificance of the megapixels (MP) in a camera. After experiencing a 6MP DSLR lick any XX megapixel digicam in terms of great color and pictures I understood that the lens played a vital role in digital photography but in NO WAY is it the sum of all the other's parts. Megapixels DO count and, as I have stated earlier, it neglects to point out the economic (or business side) of using higher megapixels. Now, before anyone reacts violently I would like to point out that I am NOT an engineer NOR am I a businessman. I'm just good at speculating the whys.

As I see it, the purpose of a higher MP is so you have a more detailed digital zoom plus the capability to print larger pictures! (Higher MP produces larger resolutions, hence, larger pictures.) A higher MP camera will optically zoom in on an image at a certain range and then use the pixels rendered by the image to digitally zoom on it. Of course, that goes without saying nothing beats optical zoom. Another advantage for higher MP? If you're into graphics design you'll know how important it is to have high quality pictures. 6MP just won't cut it!

Higher MP has its economic advantages. Compared to an optical zoom lens, it's cheaper to buy a $350 10MP digicam with 3x optical zoom and some 5x digital zoom than a $2,000 zoom lens. Right? The guys back at Sony or Pentax or Olympus understood that they need to distribute their products readily and evenly to everyone with money on the market. If you're gonna wait for anyone to just buy your $1,000 product your business is screwed. If it were up to the enthusiastically ignorant hobbyist, all cameras (or any product for that matter) would be high-end. This means that most companies would be on life support because they are only penetrating a smaller niche in the market. If the average Joe cannot afford your shit then that's money you're NOT making. Let's face it, no matter what business ethics tell you, you are NOT THEIR ONLY customer.

Take note, I didn't do any research when I said that. I just tried to explain by trying to get inside the heads of the brainless managers and their witless cronies that know jack shit about their own products.

What was the point of all this? I'm just saying before you bitch about some crappy product usage procedure try to understand first why it was made that way. The creators have their reasons, it may not be what you expect to hear but it's what makes sense for them - regardless how poor their sense of taste is. ;)

Oh, and if you can't afford a good DSLR camera you can always search for that article and "tell" yourself that megapixels don't count. It's a simple white lie you'll be telling yourself that you're just too cheap to buy something better.

Monday, February 09, 2009

I noticed quite recently that a lot of my frustrations have been very rampant. So rampant that I have taken heed to some readers that it IS disturbing.

As for the rest, I'm guessing most of you guys are wondering if I must be a really bad person to share all of these dark and depressing entries but, fact of the matter is this, I'm a guy. Another fact is this: My world expects me to be strong and perfect. Yet another fact: I'm NOT perfect.

As I look at everything I have posted so far I've come to realize that my life is far from pleasant - distant from being perfect but less than ordinary. If my assumptions are correct I know most of you guys are probably sick and tired of listening to my sourgraping. It's pathetic, I know! You don't have to make that clear. My, God, I'm starting to sound like those whining white boys that I despise so much!

Quite frankly, I'm also sick and tired of writing about all the things that's gone wrong with my life but, then again, this was the original intention of this blog. I'm sick and tired of sharing all this misery and imposing it on you my "imaginary" readers! ;) God, I can't even remember the last time I shared something or anything remotely resembling a hint of cheer. There's just the usual bouts of humor I find in every pitfall. Hey, I always said that someday I will look back on this and laugh! It doesn't seem like I'm currently laughing though. :-/

Love, it's always about love, is it? Or about work! Same old. Same old. Oh, by the way, if you're expecting in this post an apology for my politically incorrect reference to certain individuals then you're not getting it here. Just like everyone else, I exhibit some degree of distaste for certain strains of individuals from males, females or the third sex.

I try to remind myself that it always gets worse before it gets better. I still wonder if I would live to see the day where I can say a little something happy for a change. (Geez, I even had a hard time spelling "happy"! Here's another secret: I also stutter in typing "love" too.)

For once I would like to write a little something different. Just once I would like to start out with: "I met her by the porch. It was just a chance meeting because I needed some air away from the crowd..." and then it would end with "we still fight on a regular basis but at the end I still love her more... I bought her roses the other day...". Of course, we all know that anything close to resembling the last part is probably a myth. Usually we end up saying "I hope he/she gets run over with every tire on a 16-wheeler!". It's so tiring hearing that shit over and over again. :(

Who knows, right? A few of us had a happy ending maybe the rest of us will get ours.

"Only God makes happy endings. If it's not happy then it's not the end."

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

"Turn your weaknesses into strengths." That's what they tell you. That's also what I tell myself. So that's why I'm probably half alive in this world. Humans are good at overcoming obstacles by going beyond physical and mental weaknesses.

One particular human weakness I have learned to harness recently is depression. Yup, that's right! This too can be turned to our advantage - our strength.

Of course, it's not healthy to keep it up though but once it's there, know at least that you can use it in your favor. When and IF you get past the "lazy" phase of it I found that depression:

...increases your tolerance for pain. You can then withstand some physical tasks like sports and work....clears your mind because you're not actually thinking of anything else. Thus, if you're focusing on something it's a lot easier. Two thoughts are better than a dozen. Holding on to that focus is a little tricky though....keeps you awake when you need an all-nighter. You're not eating and you're not sleeping. So get your ass up and do something productive! If you're going to be sad about something don't be sad about everything else!...increases alcohol tolerance....prolongs ejaculation due to decreased blood flow. *wink* *wink* (not too low though. otherwise, you would end up not getting it)...makes you feel at ease doing certain things because you're at this I-don't-give-a-fuck-anymore attitude so you're probably more prone to be aggressive and open about things you would otherwise keep to yourself....minimizes your fear of death that you have more chances of winning a gunfight/bar fight with a dozen opponents who are happy but scared shitless. You can do various hobbies with this one: sky diving, bungee jumping, drag racing. ;)

So just like that movie "Drunken Master" this strong emotion can be rolled with the punches and lead you to some sort of victory. Maybe, against yourself?